Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures were mixed on Friday in choppy trading as investors weighed rising pork prices against weak cash hog values and rising concerns about pork exports to China. Spread trading steered some contracts up sharply while others, including actively traded October and December futures, retreated. “Spreads […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs end mixed as trade gauges trade war impact

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs rally for second day
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures posted strong gains for a second consecutive session Thursday, lifted by short-covering and technical buying following the market’s recent drop. Rising pork prices and solid pork exports supported the market, largely diluting concerns over U.S. trade tensions with China, the world’s top hog and […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs tumble on worsening U.S.-China trade ties
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell sharply on Tuesday as growing tensions between Washington and Beijing fueled worries about U.S. pork exports. China, the world’s largest hog and pork market, has threatened to halt all purchases of U.S. agricultural products after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would slap […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures swing wildly as trade war intensifies
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) livestock futures swung wildly on Monday, with the most-active October lean hog futures going nearly limit-up and -down in the same trading session, amid growing tensions in the U.S.-China trade war. China’s commerce ministry said that Chinese companies have stopped buying U.S. agricultural products, and that China […] Read more

Klassen: Feeder cattle markets remain firm
Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were unchanged from seven days earlier. Strong buying interest was noted from finishing feedlots in Alberta. Orders flowed across the prairies keeping prices relatively even. U.S. feeder cattle markets traded $3 to as much as $8 higher in the Northern Plains which also underpinned prices in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Futures rally on choppy grains, hopes for Chinese buying spree
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live hog futures rallied on Tuesday, as competition among packers for spot delivery grew and animal weights slipped after the recent U.S. heat wave, traders said. Live cattle futures also inched up, supported in part by choppy trading in U.S. grain futures and growing questions of whether […] Read more

Klassen: Yearling prices surge
Compared to last week, Western Canadian yearling prices were $3 to as much as $10 higher while calves traded $2 to $5 above week-ago levels. Most auction barns remain in holiday mode; however, order buyers were extremely busy fielding calls for available cattle. This caused the yearling market in Western Canada to divorce from the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hogs top five-week high on China demand expectations
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in more than five weeks on Friday on expectations for increased pork demand from China, the world’s top importer. Live cattle futures ended higher after dropping to their lowest prices in more than a week. Hog traders expect China, the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hogs rise amid hopes of China pork demand
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in about a month on Thursday on expectations of bigger pork imports by China, traders said. A recent rise in Chinese pork prices, linked to an outbreak of a fatal hog disease in Asia, is fueling expectations that buyers there […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hogs near limit up on renewed pork export hopes
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures soared by the daily limit and approached a one-month high on Wednesday on renewed hopes that China will increase pork imports to compensate for pigs killed in a widespread outbreak of a fatal swine disease. China’s agriculture ministry said a new outbreak of African swine […] Read more